Toto Wolff may demand an explanation from George Russell when it was discovered that he had signed Red Bull merchandise in form of Max Verstappen cap at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Mercedes made fun of George Russell’s encounter with a fan at the Belgian Grand Prix when the British driver was exposed to have signed a Max Verstappen cap upon entering the track.
The Mercedes driver was passing large crowds of spectators as he proceeded to the Circuit of Spa-Francorchamps, signing autographs and mingling with the group of people who had gathered to see their favorite drivers.
Russell ended up signing an orange Red Bull cap by means of essentially being on auto-pilot as he moved along the line of spectators seeking for signatures and selfies.
When Russell approached a fan, one could be heard exclaiming, “wrong person,” but the Brit could not be stopped as he wilfully autographed the top brow of the Verstappen cap given to him.
Mercedes posted the video to its social media platforms zooming in on the subject’s face as Russell pressed pen to cap.
The Mercedes Twitter admin had a lot of fun with the interaction and sampled the phrase “Hold up, wait a minute” from a once-viral news clip. Before shocking viewers with the infamous “wasted” video from the Grand Theft Auto series, after the piece begins with, “Something ain’t right.”
Verstappen and Red Bull are among Mercedes’ main rivals, so team principal Wolff may have to warn Russell.
The topic of discussion brought to mind a memorable fan interaction from Silverstone previously last season, when fellow Brit Lando Norris crossed out the second number four from a Lewis Hamilton supporter’s cap, damaging it and sharply raising its worth.
Russell may have started signing headwear with the Verstappen logo, but he was unable to match the Dutchman’s speed on the track during the course of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend. Following a dismal set of qualifying performances, the British driver only put in nine additional points to his season total.
Russell could only manage a P10 qualifying berth ahead of the sprint race on Saturday, and his Q3 laps on Friday were only good enough to earn him a P8 grid position for the grand prix final race.
The 25-year-old British driver was able to advance during the races, grabbing a point in the sprint race after moving up, then recovering to finish P6 on Sunday after taking advantage of a crash between Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri.
Unfortunately for Russell, the Belgian Grand Prix marked yet another weekend of battling in Hamilton’s shadow, a teammate and seven-time world champion. As we enter the summer break, the successful Brit has finished ahead of Russell at six of the last seven grand prix.
Following this slump in performance, Russell has fallen to P6 in the Drivers’ Championship standings, behind Charles Leclerc who won his third podium of the year in Belgium.
